Bahrain anniversary protests

Thousands of riot police and other security forces clamped down on Pearl Square, the epicenter of last year's uprising, and elsewhere in and near the capital, Manama, on Tuesday.

The government in the Gulf kingdom had warned of a zero-tolerance approach as the anniversary neared.

Protesters, however, most of them young people, appeared undeterred as they followed a call for protest posted on the Facebook page of the Coalition of the Youth of February 14th Revolution group.

Thousands had taken to the streets of the capital on Monday, the eve of the anniversary, in the largest attempt in months to retake Pearl Square (now sometimes called Freedom Square). The evening ended in violence as some of the protesters threw petrol bombs at police cars.

Police arrested dozens of people.

The massive 2011 protests were quashed relatively early in the so-called Arab Spring.

They prompted the authorities to impose martial law, a move that triggered international condemnation and ultimately led to the cancellation of the country's biggest sports event, the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix.

The government lifted emergency rule in June.

Sporadic clashes are reported almost daily in the predominantly Shi'ite villages around the capital.

Shi'ite Muslims account for about 70 percent of the roughly 525,000 people in Bahrain; they say they have faced decades of discrimination and are prevented from holding senior positions in society.

msh, ncy/dfm (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)